Despite that, plans to dissolve a government body that was deemed no longer necessary more than 10 years ago and had been planned to close in 2017 have gone nowhere — all at a cost of almost £3.5m and when the Executive’s finances are tighter than ever.
The Local Government Staff Commission was established in 1972 to provide human resources and organisational development advice to councils and the Housing Executive.
It played a central role in the major restructuring of local government in 2015, overseeing the appointment of chief executives to the 11 new councils.
It has been declared no longer necessary but still it exists — and every council in Northern Ireland has forked out a hefty sum to keep it afloat when so many other areas desperately need funding.
The Local Government Staff Commission will remain in existence for at least another three years.
A decision to wind it up could have been taken earlier this year had Stormont been up and running.
The cost of dissolving the body is estimated at £2m, and the human resources role it was asked to perform is now largely handled by councils.
This means councils are not only paying for work that is not being done but are doing that work themselves.
In the meantime, town halls the length and breadth of Northern Ireland have had to cut services because of extreme financial pressures.
Appeals for more money are all well and good, and extra funding can only benefit all, but only if the money is spent to achieve the results that communities need.
Walk into any bank for a loan, and it will look at how well you handle the money you already have.
It is unlikely to lavish extra cash upon you if you’re struggling just to keep your head above water.
Government departments and councils will have to make many tough calls in the weeks and months ahead.
With the Local Government Staff Commission, it does not bode well that a decision made more than 10 years will not be implemented until 2027 at the earliest.
Anyone with an ounce of sense will tell you it’s a bad idea to eat food past its use-by date, but the commission’s use-by date has long since passed.
Are other redundant schemes still drawing money from the public pot?
